Originally posted by kidkool
why not go for news.us or newspaper.us instead of these "clever" or second rate names. My feeling is that with extensions other than .com go for the one word generics and if you can't get them restrain yourself from registering
OK Kid I will give you one more free lesson today - but only because I like you
You will soon learn that there is such a thing as being TOO generic. A business needs a clearly identifiable brand. Where I live there are two very strong daily newspapers that fight each other tooth and nail - the Tampa Tribune and the St. Pete Times. I will gaurantee you that they would both choose their current names (tampatrib.com and sptimes.com) over newspaper.com (A few months ago I posed this very question to editors at both papers whom I know, as I deal with them in the course of my current job as a media relations director).
When there are competitors in the marketplace they must clearly brand themselves to distinguish them from their competitor. If I am a reader in the Tampa bay area and I see newspaper.com - who the hell is that - the Times or The Tribune or neither? (In reality newspaper.com is a pretty cheesy online-only quasi-news site - which pretty well blows the hell out of your theory that if a name is really good then something great will be on that domain).
You are also making a mistake thinking that one-word names are the only thing that is any good, so you are out regging names like pouches.org and emporiums.net. Both way TOO generic (again) to be of much use. But based on your criteria, you would take those rather than "crappy" two-word names like HealthInsurance.us or CarParts.us. Not to mention the fact you are pairing a commercial product like pouches with a completely unsuitable non-profit extension like .org (yet you wouldn't reg .US which would make a hell of a lot more sense for an American business than .org). You need to broaden your horizons a little (no make that a LOT).
It would also be a good idea to stick to industries you know something about. You know nothing about the newspaper industry so you have no frame of reference to appreciate what a great name DailyStar is (it has been branded for over 100 years).
Originally posted by kidkool
i don't think .us will increase in value. i think 90% of these names will drop when the people who bought them up by the thousands discover they won't sell like .coms did in '98.
Millions of .coms are dropping because people have discovered they don't sell like they did in '98. Also, because they registered millions of crappy names just because they thought being a .com would save their crappy name. If people register crappy .US names (or any other extension) then yes they will drop. If they register solid words and terms that are heavily searched-for and well known they could make enough money to send you through college (3 or 4 times).
You are much too young to have your head buried in the sand like a lot of others in the Ostrich Club. The world is changing (again). Don't let these old farts (well Big Fart is OK) convince you that there is only one path to success. If you follow only one path and someone gave you the wrong directions you are going to find yourself up Sh*t Creek, without a paddle.
P.S. I appreciate your posts today. You are a thoughtful young man and you would make a good reporter one day. You ask the tough questions and refuse to be intimidated. You're just having a little trouble with rule number one which is "get the facts straight" - but you can learn that. I do kind of admire the way you just make stuff up when you don't know the answer. If you decide to go into TV instead of print journalism - that will be a huge asset